For All the Saints (does anyone have a playable accompaniment to this?)
Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones (why is this accompaniment also impossible?! oh, I get it, it's cuz everyone else plays it SO SLOW that the accmpt actually makes sense...good grief. Any ideas?)*
(insert communion chant)
Blest are They (this could lead to a whole post as has been much discussed on how songs like this one actually DO fulfill the propers, unlike good old-fashioned hymns...)
By All Your Saints Still Striving
*I think I find these two to be the hardest in the book (and I've used both OCP and GIA accmps for them,) because they are not written in nice 4-part voice leading. Rather, they have random 7-note chords regularly alternating with little 3-note chords, and VERY moving pedal parts. does anyone else find that weird? Any alternative suggestions? Even the "alternate harmonizations" in the books that I have are HARD!
4 comments:
Mara, use the Hymnal 1940. It has the Ralph Vaughn Williams original. Unless that's what you're having trouble with. Otherwise, I do have another RVW version of it for 4-part. It's in The Lutheran Hymnal as well. If you want any of those, contact me. I collect hymnals so of course I have it. I also have a playable version of LASST UNS ERFREUEN (Ye Watchers) that I used when I was starting out. Technically it's copyrighted, but just "promise" me you'll buy the book if you like it ;)
I agree with you on Blest are They - and that's why I'll use the proper to a psalm tone then :P
-Gavin
Mara,
SINE NOMINE is meant to have all the block chords played in the hands, and that running bass line is pedal alone. If you get stuck look in some Protestant hymnals (Gavin cites Hymnal 1940, I also suggest the Lutheran Book of Worship) that have all 8 original verses. RVW set verses 4-5-6 to a chorale harmonization, with 1-2-3-7-8 having the familiar, more difficult setting. You could easily play the chorale for all verses.
~nb
Mara-
I think the melody for Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones is best done slowly. It always sounds too rushed when anyone attempts to make it upbeat. It should be this slow:
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
Did you get that? :)
Boniface
Agreed on SINE and LASST - strangely difficult accompaniments. That said, I do think both are fantastic.
Your All Saints selections look very similar to mine!
Yes, it is interesting to look at text matches between the “standard” congregational repertoire and the chant propers. More often than not, I find that the best matches for non-psalmic propers are Haugen/SLJ/etc. tunes. Psalmic propers can be done to metrical psalters (Sternhold/Hopkins, Brady/Tate, Watts, etc.)
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